Sports racquets, such as racquet ball racquets and tennis rackets, have evolved with a number of objectives including the increase of power to hit a projectile, such as a ball or other propellable object such as a shuttlecock. Referring to FIG. 1, one type of known racquet 200 designed to increase power has a string bed 202 including main strings 204 that run the longitudinal direction of the racquet (“vertical” strings). Some of these main strings, indicated as 206, extend into a hollow handle 208 and are looped around a pin 210 near the bottom of the handle. These strings are called “long” strings hereinafter. The wrapping of the long string 206 around the pin 210 creates a fixed end for each long string 206 inside the handle at its far end (hereafter referred to as the “long” string configuration).
Referring to FIG. 2, the long string configuration is also provided for other types of racquets, such as a tennis racket 300 that has a shaft 302 connecting a head frame 304 and string bed 306 to a hollow handle 308. In this case, a pin 310 is also placed in the handle, and long strings 312 must run through the shaft for looping around pin 310.
Due to the lengthening of the long strings 206 and 312 into the handle, even though the string bed in such a racquet is about 15½ inches long (for racquetball and tennis racquets), the effective length of the main, long strings is about 22 inches (for racquetball racquets) or about 27–28 inches long (for tennis racquets). Long string racquets for other racquet sports such as squash and badminton will have commensurate increases in effective length. As a result, the long strings 206 and 312 provide greater deflection and “dwell” time with the ball (not shown), which stores greater energy. This in turn causes a ball to be propelled from a racquet with more power and speed. The long string configurations are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,104 issued to Mortvedt et al., which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
The long string configuration, however, is difficult to string since the looping or anchoring pin or bearing 210, 310 is enclosed within the handle 208, 308 of the known racquets. The stringing of these racquets takes more time than is usual, as the stringer has to contend with a string that tends to coil or twine on itself and otherwise behave in an unruly fashion. Threading e.g. monofilament nylon strings through elongated cavities in handles and shafts is time-consuming and frustrating. Further, when inserting the strings 206, 312 into the handle and looping or bending them around the pin 210, 310, it is difficult to maintain a proper alignment of the long strings 206, 312 within the handle and on the pin relative to the alignment of the strings on the string bed. The string tends to end up being routed in an unplanned way.
At the pin 210, 310 itself, the strings 206, 312 may abut each other while placing the string around the pin, and can become entangled due to crossing or further lateral movement of the strings on the pin. If a string is pulled around the pin and on top of another string, it can later roll off the bottom string and lose a portion of its tensioning.
Yet another problem that occurs while stringing the long string racquets is that once a string 206, 312 is bent around the pin 210, 310, emerges from the handle 208, 308 and is pulled into the string bed 202, 306, it can then be difficult for the stringer to determine where on the racquet head or head frame 214, 304 the string should be attached to next. This is especially true in string bed patterns where the strings are not necessarily strung through adjacent holes on the frame all the way around the frame (i.e. the string is laced through non-adjacent holes such as every other hole or every third hole).
Finally, the long strings 206, 312 are more directly attached to the handle via a pin, at least compared to known racquets that terminate their vertical strings on a head frame separated from the handle by a throat area. This direct contact with the handle transfers undesired forces more easily to the handle, such as vibration formed upon the racquet's impact with an object. Vibration can cause discomfort and tire the muscles of a user's hand and arm holding the racquet more quickly. This vibration is a particularly troublesome issue in long string racquet designs such as those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.